Im curious...

(star wars, terra, secret world, etc etc) these days.. why hasnt it finally happened to FFXI or more importantly.. what makes everyone so sure it will NEVER happen to FFXIV some day?

Now you lost me.. You said AAA, right?(Kidding..) Then you cite all the MMOs that came out in the MMO-craze of last holiday season. The reason they went F2P was competition, and lack of endgame to keep a sub for more than 30 days.

FFXI has a fiercely loyal userbase, plus the players are invested. If you can keep a player passed 30-60 days, you've now got that player invested in the future of that game. Last year, over 30 mmos were released. It's not a question of quality, its market saturation.

Lastly, no one is sure it will never happen to FFXIV. Yoshi-P himself has made a few comments on the subject and didn't sound completely against it, but feels that it creates an uneven playing field for players and creates a new set of development problems.

We are all just positive it won't happen soon.

My opinion on F2P is that it creates a weak community. You have players who aren't invested in the game. You'll have much more unique users, much fewer dedicated players. Additionally, to sustain a F2P model, you have to create artificial barriers that can be overcome by paying money, like slower leveling unless you buy double xp for 2 hours. I'd rather pay my monthly fee and do as I please, and not have to count all the nickles and dimes to make sure I'm not paying too much for what I'm getting.